In an ideal world, journalists act selflessly and in the public interest regardless of the financial consequences. However, in reality, news outlets no
longer provide the most important and consequential stories to audiences; instead, news producers adjust news content in response to ratings, audience demographics, and opinion polls. While such
criticisms of the news media are widely shared, few can agree on the causes of poor news quality. The People’s News argues that the incentives in the American free market drive
news outlets to report news that meets audience demands, rather than democratic ideals.In short, audiences’ opinions drive the content that so often passes off as “the news.”